Twitter in Trouble?

It seems that all is not well in the world of Twitter. That is, according to a recent cover story in Fortune that warns Twitter's usage appears to be flat lining.

The story says Twitter has garnered 200 million citizens from all over the world, but one hundred million of them are absent altogether, and Twitter.com has about 20 million fewer visitors per month than Myspace.

Twitter also seems to lack a visionary product leader while suffering from outages and not turning a profit. Finally, CNN reported on Wednesday that UberMedia is planning to build a rival micro-blogging network that could shun the the famous 140-character limit.

Now the question is does Twitter really have a problem on their hands? Should "tweeps" begin looking to another city with fewer rules?

Well, looking at the numbers Quantcast says there's been a 50% jump in usage in the past five months, Google Analytics says international traffic has risen 83% in the past year, and because so many people are tweeting on their mobile device or third party app, the Twitter.com numbers are incomplete.

Even without the numbers Twitter is the only service that actually immerses you in a global conversation, especially when there's a natural disaster, major sporting event, or revolution going on.

What about it's 140-character limit? This is, and will be, Twitter's greatest asset despite the little minority of people that protest against it. It's the stop-light system that keeps the traffic flowing smoothly and allows everyone to get a word in.

If something is worth saying, it's worth saying as short and brief as possible. Just ask Poets and screenwriters.

With that said, I believe the answer to "Is Twitter in trouble?" is simply, no. Twitter has accomplished something special and is far away from being outdone or repeated in any way.

Wouldn't you agree?

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Journalist Arriving on Facebook

On April 5th, Facebook announced a new Facebook page called "Journalist on Facebook" that is designed and dedicated to helping journalist use Facebook as a reporting tool.

Last fall Facebook announced a similar page called Facebook and Media. So, you think "Well, it's the same thing right?" Not exactly. Just as the title says the page Facebook for Media is geared towards just media.

On the other hand, Journalist on Facebook is all for and about the individual journalist. It's main existence is to help journalist use the power of Facebook for journalism.

It does this with Facebook-provided best practices and peer collaboration from a big community of journalism professionals.

It seems that Facebook took the time to make this page a worthwhile experience. They have polling and discussion options that will grow in activity, video interviews with top journalist, and even a registration tab to be notified of journalist meetups in local areas. They even give you a nice "Get Started" guide to help new journalist.

Now, it may be easy to assume journalist know how to use social media and if they're using Twitter they probably do, but this new way of using Facebook goes beyond Twitter and offers more opportunities for journalist in general.

This is just a great chance to learn from other journalist giving more innovation and great content to use. Journalist can promote their content, become even more independent, and accumulate their fan base.

In my opinion, this is just a win-win situation for everyone and especially for journalist. Some people believe that this is just Facebook finding a way to compete more with Twitter, but is that really a bad thing if they are?

What do you think? Is Facebook just doing this for competition? Can Facebook be a good resource for Journalist?

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Five Tips for Great News Feature Stories

Back in the 1960's there was a reporter named Tom Wolfe got fed up with "the pale beige tone" of regular news writing. Thus he began writing feature stories to brighten up news writing and add a great new way to tell news stories.

Feature stories became and are still successful among news writers today, but not everyone can write a great feature story. So, here's five tips for producing great news feature stories.

1. Find Real People

News features talk about important topics, but they are still people stories. You'll need to have real people that will help bring your feature story to life.

If you're going to write about teachers then interview plenty and focus on one in particular. Then, let them tell you their stories to help tell yours.

2. Don't Overdo The Story

Feature stories are suppose to be a more colorful story and have a more interesting voice. That doesn't mean put the whole rainbow in your story though if you know what I mean.

It's like trying to play the piano, sing a song, and juggle 3 saws at the same time, that's just too much color. Keep it nice and interesting to read, but make sure it doesn't overwhelm your audience.

3. Use Your Senses

Incorporating nice details into your feature story will help make it interesting to read. A great way to do that is by using the five senses to put in those details.

Describe how things look, feel, touch, sound, and taste to make the reader feel like they are not only reading the story, he or she will believe they are actually part of the story being told.

4. Keeping It Real

Although feature stories require more creative writing in the structure, it is still important to keep the facts right. Sometimes a feature story can turn into a bit of a fiction story, but we need to remember as journalist that our writing is suppose to be nonfiction.

So, keeping it real in your story is critical or else it isn't really a feature story and you might as well start writing a fictional book.

5. Find your voice

Creative journalist can have a harder time with this writing their news stories. Whether it be editors for the newspaper or a college professor grading your news story, they can have rules an opinions to how writing should be done.

Being a successful writer will depend on your ability to satisfy what the boss wants in the paper, pleasing your audience reading the story, and staying true to your personal voice. That can be a hard thing to do, but it's one of your main goals as a journalist.

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New York Times Says "Not So Fast"

So, you thought you could get away with it didn't you? You figured out a way to get around that 20 article limit The New York Times will introduce in the U.S. next Monday. Well, it seems The New York Times has now said "Not so fast".

This new pay-wall system has a rule, if you get to a Times article by following a link it won't count against the 20 articles you get to read for free before paying a monthly subscription fee.

Of course, someone quickly introduced a twitter feed called @FreeNYTimes and it would be very resourceful for people looking for a way around it. The way it works is that person would have a subscription themselves and would have a link to every single New York Times article giving people the ability to use Twitter to get free articles.

"It is a violation of our trademark" said a representative for the Times and with that thought the Times has quickly countered this idea by asking Twitter to disable @FreeNYTimes.

Now is it really a trademark violation? Taking a look at the Twitter profile picture it has the distinctive Gothic "T" of the New York Times and the term "NYTimes" is identical to the newspaper's URL.

The Times may have a point now, but the name can easily be changed making it hard to press any trademark violation charges.

The Times' price is $35 per month to access the site on a computer, smartphone, and IPad while the computer only is $15. If the full package was $15 I believe a lot (and I mean a lot) more people would be willing to pay for the subscription.

So, What do you think? Is there a real trademark violation and do the prices for the subscription need to be adjusted?

I think the Times could simply avoid problems like this with a new plan. Make the pricing a good bit cheaper and people might be willing to pay for the subscription.

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Writing Better News Articles

Being a journalist today is one thing, but being able to write successful, distinguished articles is another.

So what is the different between a mediocre journalist and an extraordinary one?

There's plenty of opinions suggesting what that is, but here's five tips that won't hurt on your path to being a successful journalist.

1. Focus your important information into the beginning of your article.

One thing you need to know as a journalist is your general audience is pressed for time. Therefore getting all the most important facts down first is key to keeping the audience interested and reading. The format using this style is the inverted pyramid technique and at the end you can summarize what you wanted to accomplish in the beginning.

2. Stay fresh

When your writing an article do you write almost the same way every time? If your pattern is becoming predictable, it's time to switch it up. Change your style a little and switch up the vocabulary. Find ideas and work to be creative with your articles.

3. Receive feedback

Another great way to improve is to get constructive feedback. Try finding a good writer, editor, or someone who reads a lot. When you get intelligent and honest feedback just listen and try to understand the criticism. Accepting it will help you improve and become a better writer in general.

4. Check and recheck

One basic rule of good journalism is to check and recheck those facts. Giving false facts can lead to trouble and an untrusting audience. Checking and rechecking also applies to grammatical and contextual aspects. If your a sloppy writer then your credibility will also become sloppy. Writers do make mistakes from time to time, but checking your work will save you more times than not.

5. Write what you love

I believe this is one of the most important things for a journalist. Simply put, you need to be passionate about what you write about. When you write about things that don't interest you, it shows in your writing. The article will then become dull, disengaging, and uninformed. Stay with what interests you and it will come out into your writing. When you find your voice as a journalist just let it shine.

These aren't the only tips you need to become the successful journalist I know you're striving for, but these were the 5 I thought were most important in my opinion. Nevertheless, these and other skills will surely help you on your way to being a great and outstanding journalist.

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Facebook Creating Privacy Issues?

Facebook has decided to give third-party developers and external websites authorization to access users' home addresses and cellphone numbers despite criticism from privacy experts, Facebook users, and even congressmen Edward Markey and Joe Barton.

"Mobile phone numbers and personal addresses, particularly those that can identify teenagers using Facebook, require special protection," said Rep. Edward Markey. "We must ensure that this sensitive information is safeguarded, with clear, distinct permissions so that users know precisely what's in store when they opt to share this data with third parties.

After the congressmen sent a letter to Facebook expressing their concerns over the new functionality, Facebook responded and ultimately reaffirmed it's decision to still allow third parties to request access to users' addresses and phone numbers.

Facebook's plan to open up users' addresses and phone numbers to third-party sites and services is the latest frontier in Facebook's often controversy-filled efforts to encourage users' to be looser in sharing their information.

Privacy experts have warned that even if this new feature included improved notifications and protection for minors, it could still endanger users' personal information and increase their risk of being targeted by scams, spam, and identity thieves.

"People never thought when they were posting this data that it would be accessible to anyone but friends. There's a real mismatch of expectations around that," said Mary Hodder, chairman of the Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium.

Facebook is once again walking the thin line of breaking users' privacy. So, what's your take on Facebook's latest move? Are they officially crossing the line of privacy? Or are they still in the right since Facebook is, in fact, a public site?

I can't help but feel bad for Facebook users because it seems that Facebook's approach really is "Everything on here is public, therefore, you give us anything and it's completely fair game." I am at least happy about Facebook saying they will make an effort to keep users aware of when they could be giving information away and asking for permission.

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Eyes are Everywhere

A Pennsylvania high school teacher was suspended from her job after placing angry, unprofessional blog posts about her students on the Internet.

Natalie Munroe, an English teacher at Central Bucks East High School, vented her frustration in her blog about some of her "utterly loathsome" students saying remarks such as they are "rude, disengaged, lazy whiners." In another post she professes "There's no other way to say this: I hate your kid."

Her attorney, Steve Rovner, says legally his client's school district doesn't have any policy in place that states what teachers can and cannot do online. He also stated Munroe did not name the school, nor her students, in her posts.

Munroe is now in the middle of a heated online debate over whether teachers are actually to blame for the problems in the current education system, as well as the boundaries on freedom of speech all together.

"It's a First Amendment issue," Rovner says. "And it's an unresolved area of the law." Also uncertain is when the online frenzy will die down on this subject as a number of national and international publications are relaying the story.

On one side of this debate, some see Munroe's comments as a systematic rundown of the dire challenges facing America's overburdened teachers. The other side sees just the kind of attitude problem that can ultimately lead students adrift in the classroom.

"The perception is that everything is the teachers' fault," says Munroe, "but teachers can only work within the system that is in place."

So, what do you think? Were Natalie Munroe's blog posts ultimately out of line? Is the perception of today's teachers a fair one?

I think instead of venting about how bad her students are she could try working with them some more to help them if she hasn't already. At the same time I remember how bad some students were in high school and it can be a harsh reality for teachers in the 21th century classroom. It is, however, undoubtedly naive to believe that a blog can be anonymous in the year 2011 as she believed it to be.

Any words said over the Internet are available for anyone and everyone to see.

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Twitter Phone in the making?

Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO, went to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Monday to address how he believes the Twitter brand works best: when it's invisible and everywhere.

He didn't come to reveal his finances, despite saying Twitter is "making money", he coolly denied rumors that Google was going to buy Twitter for $10 billion, and he didn't come to launch a new product.

An analyst still responded by asking about if he could ever see a Twitter-branded smartphone after referencing the "Facebook phone." Costolo gave a quick and simple answer of "No."

"Twitter already works on every device you're going to hear about this week," said Costolo. "Tweets flow seamlessly across platforms; that's what we're trying to accomplish."

During the explanation, he ended up comparing Twitter to water -- a utility so useful and copious, we almost forget it's there. We don't need to learn new ways to use it in different contexts.

Amid the country-wide of Egypt, Twitter was lost as part of a wider Internet blackout. "People in the desert will always find a way to water." said Costolo. Google and Twitter did indeed provide a voice-to-tweet service that kept the protesters in touch.

So under the leadership of Costolo, there will be no such thing as a "Twitter phone." Water doesn't need branding because it's simply water. Everybody needs it everyday.

I think Costolo gave a fair explanation of the brand Twitter. The way Twitter has developed over the years it has become not only similar to water, but in my opinion like an addictive sugary drink with it's sweet, satisfying taste. Some of us just can't get enough of Twitter and use it everyday without much of a thought.

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Gaining Brain Cells through -- Video Games?

Despite the perception of video games having negative effects on people's minds, many actually build rather than burn brain cells.

If your skeptical of that statement you may ask "Well, how could they possibly help more than harm?" That's a fair question considering the view on video games, so here's four answers.

Video games provide good hands-on experience, job training, contextual learning, and teamwork.

"Many children can pass biology and physics tests, but few can apply that knowledge to solve real-world problems." says author James Paul Gee. Video games promote higher levels of engagement over passive forms of entertainment such as TV and movies because people are actually involved with the on-screen activity.

In the job world, different universities and businesses such as NASA and the U.S. Army are using interactive simulations and virtual worlds to educate employees. An example is Loyalist College when they had a simulation program where students played as guards of U.S./Canada boarder crossing and saw the rate of successful test scores go up from 56% to 95%.

Dr. Jeffrey Taekman, the director Duke University's Human Simulation and Patient Center, teaches medical students saying simulations help build the abilities to make choices, see results, and apply information immediately. Traditional classrooms can't compete when considering greater scalability and group collaboration.

There are many multi-player games being played and the more popular ones that have a huge following connect players through the internet. These games often require active teamwork and high-level project management to complete objectives and battle other opponents. Georgia Tech professor and Persuasive Games founder Ian Bogost says video games require advanced mastery of resource allocation and practical leadership techniques.

Video games help in all these ways, but being a gamer myself I've learned that they at least encourage people to fall on their face then get up and try again until they succeed. I don't think that's too bad of a lesson right?

You can't lose to many brain cells learning skills like these from video games.

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Freedom of Speech Gone too Far?

After posting rude, unprofessional comments on Facebook about his teacher, a California high school student was suspended by his high school.

Donny Tobolski is the student from Mesa Verde High School that vented his frustration on Facebook saying Mr. Cimino, his biology teacher, was a "fat ass who should stop eating fast food, and is a douche bag."

Harsh words there, kid, but not too threatening.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has already said the student's free speech rights were violated and the school broke federal and state laws.

We've come to another case where the battle for freedom of speech is debated. Just what exactly is saying too much and how much is going too far when posting something on the Web?

Now, a federal agency last November already declared that Facebook updates were protected speech. In a similar case, an employee named Dawnmarie Souza was fired for making belittling comments about a supervisor in a Facebook status update.

Again, the comments were very rude and malicious, but it wasn't anything horribly threatening.

So, just what is the general feeling on this sort of thing? I think we can all agree it's a bit immature and disrespectful, but it is freedom of speech, isn't it?

Tell me what you think. Do you think Mesa Verde high school should have the right to discipline students for any opinions they put on the Internet?

Personally, I know I've expressed my mind through Facebook on rare occasion. Not to that extent, but I do believe freedom of speech is something that can never be taken away. At the same time, there's a certain professionalism we should hold when using the social network called the Internet.

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Countdown to the "IPcalypse"

It's said to happen on February 2 around 4 a.m. The Internet is scheduled to run out of current IP addresses. So what exactly does that mean for you?

Basically, your IP address is your way to use the Internet and every device you use. Whether it's a smart phone or computer, it gets a unique code called an IP address. You don't get the same address every time you use the Internet, but pretty soon you may not get any at all.

Today we use a system called the Internet Protocol version 4 (or IPv4) to give out those codes and there are about 4 billion to give out worldwide. That probably sounded like plenty back when this standard was introduced in 1981, but it was hard to foresee a computer in every home along with extra devices using the Internet.

Now, when we do run out of IP addresses, it won't mean the internet is over, so don't panic quite yet. We have guardian angels that foresaw this dilemma long before we did and created a system called IPv6.

The difference with this system is, instead of using just numbers, it will include letters in the code, making it a much bigger source for IP addresses.

Ideally, when we switch to this new system, people won't see or notice a thing. The only real problem that could happen in the days of "IPcalypse" is if enough networks don't move in a timely fashion. In this case, some people would literally see nothing because of their inability to connect to the Internet.

So I'm glad we had people to see this coming way before the deadline because, what if we weren't prepared in some way? Because of the fact that the Internet has become such a huge part of most people's lives and in some cases the internet is their life, I can only imagine their panic, anger, and inability to really live their lives.

So, as epic as the "IPcalypse" may sound, don't get too worked up about the transition because it will slip by around 4 a.m. on February 2 while you dream .

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A New Member Arrives

Hi, my name is Owen David Douglas Talley III. Long enough? A simpler version of my name is David Talley. I major in communications at the world renown Simpson College. I'm currently in Brian Steffen's class learning how to write an effective blog and although I don't feel like I'm doing this right I'm "Going out swinging" like Michael Vick said in his post game news conference a couple days ago.

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